Apart from dropsea, any places like other blogs, Twitter, Google+, Facebook, etc. we can find you on?

I have a blog on Field of Science (Doc Madhattan) and you can find me also on twitter (@ulaulaman) and Google+. I’m also on tumblr and sometimes I write for Lo Spazio Bianco, a web fun magazine about comics. And recently I started to try the Old Reader (profile)!

Would you tell us a little bit about yourself? E.g., Where are you coming from (both geographically and philosophically)? What is your (scientific) background?

I studied physics in Italy, my country, where I got a master degree (with a calculation of a cross section) and a PhD (with a work about theory of ray representations) in physics at the University of Calabria in Cosenza. About five years ago I moved to Milano in order to teach mathematics and physics as substitute and support teacher. Two years ago I started a collaboration with the committee that organizes the Italian edition of the International Astronomy Olympiad. In this case my work consists in the design and realization of the web support for Italian students, but in this period, ’cause a lack of funds, my collaboration is free and bound to my school commitments.

When and how did you first discover mathematical blogs?

During my first year as wikipedian: in search of a good source I found Matem@ticamente by Annarita Ruberto. A great discovery!

What is the story behind the name of your blog?

The first name of my blog was Goccia a goccia (dropwise), but after reading Dropsie Avenue, a graphic novel by Will Eisner, I immediately decided to celebrate this great book with my blog, so I opted for dropsea: in this way I can refer to Eisner’s book and to the popular saying a drop in the ocean.

When did you start blogging? Why did you start?

At the end of 2002. After the first edits on Wikipedia, I wanted a simple way to update my first web page and the blog seemed the suitable means. The first version of the blog (it was essentially a personal web log) was updated using a software installed on my computer, but after a couple of years I opened a new page on the server of my physics department using a tiddlywiki. Finally, at the end of 2007, I switched to blogger.

What do you write about?

My blog was started as a personal blog, so I continue to write about books and comics, but little by little I started to write about physics and mathematics as well. My scientific posts are about the story of physics and mathematics and sometimes about the latest news in research.

What wouldn’t have happened to you without the internet?

I cannot imagine my life without internet: probably I would not work for the Italian Astronomy Olympiad, but I really don’t know if would even be a teacher…

What does the internet need more of?

It is necessary that the better content emerges between the noise, and a site aggregator like mathblogging.org is one of the better tools needed for this purpose.

Mathematicians on the web have…

Mathematical knowledge, that is a very important tool to read our world.

Apart from Ask A Mathematician/Ask a Physicist, any places like other blogs, Twitter, Google+, Facebook, etc. we can find you on?

There is a twitter account, @AAMAAP, but it’s only used to announce new posts to the blog. If you have any other way of keeping track of your reading it’s really not worth subscribing to it.

Would you tell us a little bit about yourself? E.g., Where are you coming from (both geographically and philosophically)? What is your (scientific) background?

My personal philosophy, and hopefully this comes across in the blog, is that there’s nothing particularly mysterious or difficult to understand about the universe, given a little time and effort. That said, it’s very difficult to effectively learn and research on your own, and sometimes you just need to talk to a “professional” to speed things up.
In college I did a double major in Math and Physics and am presently completing a PhD in Math with an eye towards physics. My research (such as it is) is in quantum information theory, which is where all of the really interesting and weird quantum stuff is studied.

When and how did you first discover mathematical blogs?

Mostly by backtracking incoming links to AAMAAP. I hadn’t realized there were nearly this many math nerds!

What is the story behind the name of your blog?

When you go to Burningman it is assumed (hoped) that you’ll give back in some non-monetary way. So, you’ll see lots of free bars, free ice cream, free mini-golf courses, that sort of thing. Having nothing else to offer other than being moderately friendly and knowing some obscure stuff, we (the Mathematician and I) set up a little tent with a sign that said “Ask a Mathematician / Ask a Physicist”, which we thought conveyed the idea pretty clearly. A lot of people wandered by and asked a lot of really interesting questions that just couldn’t go to waste. So the blog happened.

When did you start blogging?

October 2009. There was a big burst of posts from questions that had been asked in person, but since then the vast majority have been by email.

Why did you start?

Seemed like a nice thing to do.

What do you write about?

The topic is entirely determined by what questions are received by email. In the event that I know an answer, can explain it even a little, and that it has even a small chance of being interesting to anyone else, the question and answer become the next post.

What wouldn’t have happened to you without the internet?

This questionnaire for one. I’m not making any money or getting famous or anything, so at a guess; without the internet things would probably be about the same. I’d probably talk on the phone more and spend more time in libraries (learning things much slower).

Mathematicians on the web have…

Generosity and patience.

Your daily web reading (mathematical or otherwise):

xkcd, and whatever I accidentally stumble on. Other than writing for AAMAAP and email, I spend very little time online.

Would you tell us a little bit about yourself? E.g., Where are you coming from (both geographically and philosophically)? What is your (scientific) background?

I spent eight years teaching high school mathematics, mostly at a large public high school in upstate NY. I would like to characterize my instruction, loosely, as problem-based learning, informed heavily by Piaget, Vygotsky, and Polya. Their findings translated to my classroom with variable success. But certainly improved over time, aided by reflection and feedback through blogging.

Currently, I’m writing lessons, and figuring out how to support teachers in teaching them well, at Mathalicious.com. I think that we, as a profession, know all we can know about how to teach mathematics well. I see a bottleneck in implementation – how do we get US classroom teachers to actually do these things we know to be effective? I’m grateful to be in a position where I can try to figure that out, and help in a very concrete way.

When and how did you first discover mathematical blogs?

I think it must have been in my first year of teaching, feeling overwhelmed and clueless, desperately searching the Internet for ideas about how to get my job done.

What is the story behind the name of your blog?

It seemed like a good fit for an early-career math teacher sharing, reflecting, and learning. The point of view of f(t) has been pretty consistently “I feel like I am pretty terrible at my job, but I have moments of clarity, and through work, thoughtfulness, and asking questions, I can improve incrementally.” The name encapsulates that. The working name when I first started was “Mouse Trapezoid” which is TERRIBLE.

Why did you start?

I had things to say! Even with supportive colleagues, teaching is often an isolating experience. Formal observations and evaluations were helpful, but only occurred a few times a year. I was hungry for a place to articulate things I had learned, ask for advice, share things I created that worked well, and process professional articles I had read online and in print.

What do you write about?

Lessons that worked and didn’t work, how to put classroom content in a context that kids can grab hold of, activities and games that worked and might work for others, productive and challenging interactions with students. What makes this hard, and ways of thinking and practicing that helped me be more effective. These days, I am writing about lots of the same things, but from the point of view of a curriculum creator working to help practicing teachers get better.

What wouldn’t have happened to you without the internet?

I suppose it’s impossible to say. I don’t think I would have developed into nearly the teacher I am today without the professional interaction I’ve found online. Also, I probably wouldn’t have found my current position. Also, the company I work for wouldn’t exist.

What does the internet need more of?

In talking to teachers, I most often find that they would like to change their practice. They would like to tell a coherent mathematical story, present content in a way that is relevant and engaging to their students, emphasize the most important concepts, and show students how mathematical concepts are connected to each other. But they are afraid that the tests used to judge their worth will not be aligned with the stated goals of the new standards. They feel pressure to teach unnecessary skills in isolation, just in case they will be required knowledge on the tests. They are not shy about sharing these concerns online, but it feels like no one is listening. I think the internet needs more federal and state education officials, test item writers, and administrators engaging with practicing teachers and responding to their concerns.

Apart from Math Jokes 4 Mathy Folks, any places like other blogs, Twitter, Google+, Facebook, etc. we can find you on?

I’m on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+, but I shamefully admit that I’m not terribly active in any of those forums.

Would you tell us a little bit about yourself? E.g., where are you coming from (both geographically and philosophically)? What is your (scientific) background?

I live in northern Virginia with my wife Nadine, who laughs at 80% of my jokes; my twin sons Alex and Eli, who only appreciate 20% of my humor; and my golden retriever Remy, who has never been very good with percents. I’ve worked at the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) for the past eight years, though I recently accepted a new position as Director of Mathematics at Discovery Education. I’m a teacher by training but a math dork by design.

When and how did you first discover mathematical blogs?

I have no idea. I’ve been reading math blogs for years. I couldn’t tell you which math blog I read first. Smart money says that it was one of Sam Shah, Dan Meyer, or Wild About Math, but I don’t remember for sure. I do remember that Sol Lederman at Wild About Math was instrumental in helping me to start and promote my own blog.

What is the story behind the name of your blog?

The short answer is that it’s the name of my book with the same title, but that’s not very satisfying. Truth is, I thought it was fun that jokes and folks rhyme, and I’ve always liked the word mathy. (I especially like that mathy is gaining acceptance in the math community, but spellchecker still gives it a squiggly, red underline.) And what would a math title be if a number wasn’t used in some cutesy way to replace a word? Putting all that together brought me to Math Jokes 4 Mathy Folks.

When did you start blogging?

About a month before I finished writing my master’s thesis, I told my wife that I had a collection of 400 jokes that I wanted to publish. Ever practical, she said, “How ‘bout you wait till your thesis is done before you look for a publisher?” So, I waited to find a publisher… but I started blogging immediately. The Math Jokes 4 Mathy Folks blog was born on March 10, 2010, and the Math Jokes 4 Mathy Folks book was published on August 9, 2010. (Which is an inside joke, by the way… the publication date in the American format was 8/9/10.)

Why did you start?

In 2008, my boss encouraged me to jump on stage and do some math jokes at the NCTM Annual Meeting in Salt Lake City. To his surprise, I did. It drew a small crowd, and I told jokes for about ten minutes. Buoyed by the success of that silliness, we planned a “math joke hour” at the 2009 NCTM Annual Meeting in Washington, DC. It drew over 400 attendees! The only problem was that I had only prepared 18 minutes of material. One disgruntled attendee walked out saying, “That was only a math joke third-of-an-hour!” But even though that event wasn’t as successful as I’d hoped, it was exhilarating to make people laugh. I understood the comedian’s high that I’d heard about. I figured that I should try to make folks laugh more often. About six months later, I finally found time to start a math jokes blog.

What do you write about?

Jokes, mostly, and no topic is taboo. I make fun of mathematics, professors, teachers, public education, and myself. But I also try to sprinkle in lots of classroom ideas, and I love to post interesting problems when I find them. Especially ones that I haven’t been able to solve myself, and then let the comments pile up on the way to an elegant solution.

What wouldn’t have happened to you without the internet?

My job for the last eight years has been Online Projects Manager at NCTM, in charge of the Illuminations project. The resources on that website — and my job — wouldn’t have existed without the Internet. More importantly, my community of colleagues would have been much smaller without the web. How awesome is it to solicit opinions from thousands of people with the click of a button?

What does the internet need more of?

Exceptional math resources. There are so many people doing great work in this regard — Colleen King at Cool Math, the good folks at NRICH, and Wolfram Alpha, to name just a few. But I can’t say what we need more of without addressing what we need less of. Instructional videos that use pedagogical techniques from the 19th century have done nothing to help our cause; they perpetuate the misconception that blindly enacting algorithms is what it means to do math. Far too many sites have flash card apps, drill-and-kill math games that fail to promote conceptual understanding, and similar dreck that causes kids to perceive math as a big memorization game. We need more resources that promote conceptual understanding and fewer resources that try to teach math like it’s still the 1950’s.

Mathematicians on the web have…

…an awesome sense of humor! I love that we are slowly dispelling the myth that mathematicians are humorless.

Apart from Math Mama Writes…, any other places (other blogs, Twitter, Google+, Facebook, etc.) we can find you on?

I’m editing a book with over 30 authors, Playing With Math: Stories from Math Circles, Homeschoolers, and Passionate Teachers, and we hope to have it out in a few more months, so I have a Facebook page to promote it (Playing With Math, of course). That’s about it. I have the Twitter and Google+ accounts, but don’t use them, really.

Would you tell us a little bit about yourself? E.g., Where are you coming from (both geographically and philosophically)? What is your (scientific) background?

I live in Richmond, California, and I teach at a community college. I really want to make math accessible. I loved math when I was young. (At the library, my first foray outside the children’s section was for a book on codes and ciphers in the adult section.) Then I got convinced by the University of Michigan that I didn’t really like math, barely escaping with my math BA. When I found my niche teaching community college students, I needed a master’s degree to get full-time work. I got that at Eastern Michigan University, where I fell back in love with math. I then went to a PhD program at UCSD, knowing full well that it might be like U of M for me. It was, and I quit after a year. (I would have quit after a month, but didn’t want to lose my student housing.) So I knew I loved math, but wasn’t cut out for the rigors of a PhD. I wanted to teach.

I’ve been teaching community college for about 20 years, plus a few years teaching at other levels. I’ve always been frustrated at how little of the focus in math classes is on mathematical thinking. Almost 5 years ago, I had the chance to teach at my son’s alternative school and started looking for ideas online. I joined a homeschooler’s math list, Living Math Forum, which was wonderful, and discovered both math circles and blogs through that list.

That started me on a wonderful journey. These days I feel like I’m becoming a mathematician. It’s exhilarating.

When and how did you first discover mathematical blogs?

Kate Nowak’s blog may have been the first one I really followed. I met Kate at my first math circle training in 2008, and when she started her blog that fall, I started following it. She mentored me as I began writing my blog the next spring. (I had created it two years earlier and done nothing with it.) She also introduced me to Google Reader. I probably follow about 200 math teacher blogs.

What is the story behind the name of your blog?

It took me a very long time to become a mama, and I’m very happy to be my son’s mama now. I like relating that to my other passions. And I want to try to be nurturing in my approach to math.

Why did you start?

I already had this idea in my head for a book about the math ed sorts of things that are happening outside the classroom setting. I knew I wanted to get Julie Brennan’s pieces from Living Math Forum on homeschooling, and I hoped to get material from people I knew in the math circle world. Since I teach in classrooms, it seemed like a good idea to bring classroom teachers into the mix, too. And the easiest way to do that was to join in on the blogging party.

What do you write about?

It varies a lot. Here’s what I can think of (but I may be missing some):

I read so many other blogs and get excited about lots of what I read, so I include lots of links to other resources online. This fall I participated in the New Blogger Initiation (Sam Shah got it going), which promoted over a hundred new math ed bloggers, which sent out lots of linky love. And for years I’ve written a post or two a year for the Math Teachers at Play blog carnival.

Mathematical exposition. For example, recently I wanted to find something online about centroids, since that topic is missing from our textbook and I wanted to include it in the Calc II course I was teaching. I couldn’t find anything good online, so I wrote something myself and posted it on my blog.

Apart from “Piece of Mind”, any places like other blogs, Twitter, Google+, Facebook, etc. we can find you on?

I do also Twitter but nothing else. I have another “UBC Board of Governors” blog connected to the University Housing Action Plan. It is now dormant, as the plan has passed. It is now waiting for another issue to pop up.

Would you tell us a little bit about yourself? E.g., Where are you coming from (both geographically and philosophically)? What is your (scientific) background?

I seem to be from “everywhere”. Born in Africa, raised in the Middle East (Lebanon), Graduate studies in Paris, Postdoctoral work in the US and now at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver (for 3 decades). I work on nonlinear analysis and PDEs. I have been a vocal advocate for the mathematical sciences, working at building (intellectual) capacity: PIMS (1995), MITACS (1998), BIRS (2003), Mprime (2011)

When and how did you first discover mathematical blogs?

I can’t really remember. I do recall however, seeing Isabella Laba’s blog, “The accidental mathematician”, and was impressed by how much her blog allows her to discuss substantive issues that she cannot discuss elsewhere and for which there is no real forum (She is my colleague and I know).

What is the story behind the name of your blog?

Well, I am somewhat known as (and often chastised for being) a person who speaks “his mind”. Plus, I think I was subconsciously aware of the new branding exercise at my home university, “UBC-A Place of Mind.”

When did you start blogging? Why did you start? What do you write about?

I happen to represent the Faculty on the Board of Governors at UBC, and I had been scratching my head on how best to relay to my colleagues information about Board issues that concern them, and on how to get their input. And one day in November 2010, as I was lying bored in bed with a nasty flu, I started typing on my laptop, and I haven’t stopped since.

What wouldn’t have happened to you without the Internet?

That’s a great question, because I really believe that none of my contributions to “building capacity” would have been possible without the Internet. PIMS and MITACS are both distributed institutions with many universities involved. I don’t know how scientists and staff could have coordinated and collaborated without the Internet. All my advocacy effort would have been unimaginable without it. Remember that we are many thousands of miles away from Ottawa!

What does the Internet need more of?

We need more mathematicians blogging, tweeting etc…our community is still relatively not well represented in the blogosphere, in spite of the list of blogs that you so rightly display and advertise.

Would you tell us a little bit about yourself? E.g., Where are you coming from (both geographically and philosophically)? What is your (scientific) background?

I am coming from a tiny school in a tiny town in Illinois. This year my mantra is to be less talkative which means I’m looking for ways to increase interaction and conversation between students. I am constantly looking for ways to teach things from a conceptual viewpoint. One aspect of that is giving students the opportunity to discover and recognize patterns on their own rather than merely presenting information. My background is a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics Education.

When and how did you first discover mathematical blogs?

I discovered blogs about 6 months before my teaching career began. I was working as a substitute teacher and one day I was assigned to work in the library. There was literally
nothing to do and so I just started googling math teaching stuff and I stumbled on my first mathematical blog (www.samjshah.com) and have been hooked ever since.

What is the story behind the name of your blog?

The story actually comes from the second blog I ever read (http://function-of-time.blogspot.com/) written by Kate Nowak. Her twitter name is @k8nowak and so I started thinking of other ways to use the number 8 inside of a mathematical word. My cousins used to call me Miss Liss when I was younger because they knew that I’ve always wanted to be a teacher. It just kind of came together and my bloggy was born.

When did you start blogging?

I started blogging in February of 2009 as a substitute teacher. I wanted so badly to fit in but I really didn’t have anything to say yet- I wasn’t even in the classroom. And so there follows about 6 months of blogging small talk and other nonsense.

Why did you start?

I have a very analytical mind by nature and I love to question why things happen or why they don’t. I loved reading other teachers’ blogs and I just knew that eventually I would have a lot to contribute. I started out slowly blogging about what I knew- as I learned more, the quality of the blogging vastly increased.

What do you write about?

I started out writing mostly about feelings and situations, venting, bragging, and questioning. I loved to pose questions that I was facing and get feedback from a variety of teachers with a variety of backgrounds. My blog started to really head in that direction for the next few years. In the last nine months or so I feel like I’m no longer trying to survive my job but that I have a solid grasp on what I’m doing and that I can now contribute lesson ideas and resources. I hope that that is reflected in my blog- a place where teachers can come to find ideas and resources from a real live teacher.

What wouldn’t have happened to you without the internet?

I could not be a teacher without the internet. My entire first year of teaching was due solely to resources from the Internet. Teaching at a tiny school means there is no one to collaborate with and no planned curriculum. I was handed a textbook and that’s it. Through twitter and math blogging I found a wealth of resources- an entire support group-that accelerated my teaching ability more in four years than in twenty years without them. Emotionally they have provided me with encouragement and direction. Professionally they have provided me with resources, feedback, suggestions, and critiques. Personally they have offered their friendship. Without them I could not have made it- and would not have made it. With them, I excel at my job and enjoy doing it.

What does the internet need more of?

The internet needs more teachers of all content areas who are willing to share their knowledge and resources. People who are willing to be honest and open.

Mathematicians on the web have…

…a monopoly on the best professional development and professional learning network on the Internet.